The funding comes on top of nearly $20 million pledged last year for government computing.
The federal government wants Canada's energy workers to learn to use artificial intelligence (AI) as part of efforts to keep the country's workforce competitive.
The federal government has awarded $9 million over three years to the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) to help train nearly 5,000 mid-level Canadian workers in the energy sector in artificial intelligence skills. “AI Pathways: Reinvigorating Canada's Low Carbon Workforce Initiative” aims to upskill workers in clean energy technologies such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydrogen.
“I would say that the average person on the street still has very little understanding of how these tools can improve their lives.”
Patty Hajdu, Secretary of Jobs and Families
The funds were awarded through Employment and Social Development Canada's Sustainable Jobs Training Fund, which opened its application period briefly last year. In February of this year, a total of $75 million was awarded to various organizations to improve the skills of workers for clean energy jobs.
The initiative is being implemented in partnership with the University of Alberta and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Training will be conducted both in person and online, allowing workers to participate remotely.
The announcement was made this week at Amii headquarters in Edmonton by federal leaders including AI Minister Evan Solomon, Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu and Prairie Economic Development Canada Minister Eleanor Olszewski.
Amii is a non-profit institute dedicated to artificial intelligence. Created in 2002 as a joint effort between the Government of Alberta and the University of Alberta, Amii supports machine learning research and commercialization. It is also one of Canada's three national AI institutes that is part of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy.
In her speech, Hajdu said the initiative is aimed at workers already in the energy industry “who need different skills to keep up with evolving technologies.” [and] low carbon economy.” In part, this ensures that these workers can “compete” by using artificial intelligence tools such as large language models (LLMs) for professional purposes.
“I would say that the average person on the street still has very little understanding of how these tools can improve their lives,” Hajdu said.
Both Haidu and Solomon spoke insistently. The Minister of Work and Family Services said Canada's economy is “at risk” and cited rising unemployment rate. Solomon repeated his statement that Canada is facing a 'moment of crisis' when it comes to AI. The federal minister has touted the adoption of AI as essential to Canada's economic future and warned that companies risk falling behind if they don't adopt the technology. However, some studies have shown that AI pilot projects did not bring the desired performance increase.
Secretary Solomon also noted the nearly $20 million the federal government has pledged and now committed to Amii for artificial intelligence computing power. That money is coming through a $2 billion Canadian fund. Sovereign AI Computing Strategy announced last year Fall Economic Statement.
Incorporating artificial intelligence into education and training has become a key topic in Alberta as the province actively embraces the technology. data center infrastructure to software applications. In May, Amii received $5 million from Google's philanthropic arm for development. Artificial Intelligence Educational Materials for post-secondary education. Regarding energy, Calgary Energy Transition Center Last week it received $10 million from economic development agencies to expand its educational resources and opportunities for entrepreneurs.
Artistic image courtesy of Evan Solomon via X.
